Stringed musical instrument.



No. 690,463. Patented lan. 7,1902.-

F. A. PORTER. STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

(Appleation led July 421, 1 900.)

(No Model.)l

I"UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FOREST- A. PORTER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMNT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 690,463, dated January 7, 1902.

l Application filed .Tnly 2.1, 1900. Serial No. 24,360. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Beit known that I, FOREST A. PORTER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Stringed Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to stringed musical instruments having two sets of strings designed to be picked or struck by the iingers or otherwise, my present instrument being known as a lyre-harp. Y

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide an instrument wherein the strings are brought into a comparatively small area, thereby reducing the size of the instrument; second, to so place the strings that the hands of the performer may be placed advantageously upon the instrument; third, to solocate the string-supporting bridges as to prevent the warping or buckling of the sounding-board; fourth, to provide a bridge and bridge-plate of novel construction, and, iit'th,Y to provide the other details 'hereinafter set forth. I accomplish these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the instrument. Fig. itis afvertical section of the instrument, taken on the line' 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section of a portion of the instrument as in Fig. 2, showing the method of attaching the chord-strings to the lower bridge and also showing certain other details of'construction. Fig. -4c is a detail view of the bridge-plate as shown in Fig. 3.

Similar characters refer to similar partsv throughout the several views.

The body a ofthe instrument consists of the bottom board b, the sounding-board c, parallel to said bottom board at a suitable distance above the same, and the frame-pieces d, e, f, and g, said frame-pieces d and ebeing located at the upper and lower extremities of the instrument and forming the head and tail pieces, respectively. Said pieces fand g form the side frames of the instrument-body, the frame-piece g being preferably constructed to form a sweeping double curve, as shown. The sounding-board 'c is provided with a sound-hole c', located in au approximately central position, and is reinforced by means of the frame-pieces h andj, hereinafter referred to. The strings lak are tuned to the steps and half-steps or intervals requisite for producing a melody when properly played by the performer and run substantiallylengthwise of the instrument. Said strings lc liein a plane which is preferably parallel to the sounding-board c and are attached to the wrest-pins m m, secured to the tailpiece e, which latter constitutes the lower wrest-plank of the instrument. From said tailpiece e the strings 7o k extend over the bridge n, located at or near the lower extremity of theinstrument, and said strings extend thence over the bridge o, lo-

cated intermediate of the extremities of the Y instrument. Said bridge 0 rests upon the sounding-board c, preferably in such a position as to extend for the most part obliquely with reference to the tailpiece e, and upon the side of the sound-hole c opposite to said tailpiece. strings k 7o are fastened beyond the bridge o by means ofthe pins pp, which pass intoand through the sounding-board c and into the brace or frame piece h, above mentioned. Said frame-piece h is by preference similar in outline to the bridge o and is located a slight distance beyond said bridge in order to receive said pins ,fp go and at the same time reinforce the sounding-board c. Extending across the lower extremity ofthe instrument is secured the hood-like piece q, which forms a guard for the bridge 'n and adjacent portions of the instrument and also forms a rest for the fin- The upper extremities of the melodygers and hand employed iu sounding the melody-strings k. The chord-strings r r s s are tuned in groups, so as to form chords liarmonizing with said open scale strings or melody-strings k, and I prefer to place said strings in a plane parallel to the plane of the n strings k and raised sufficiently above the ylatter to prevent interference during vibration. I prefer also that the melody-strings and the chord-strings extend in the same dithe instrument and to render the instrument more easily played upon by reason of the'resultin g symmetry. A suitable arrange- -rection, both to improve the appearance of l resent the higher tones corresponding to the harmonics or overtones of the respective fundamentals.

The lower extremities of the chord-strings 7' and s are attachedto the pins t t in the lower bridge u. Said bridge u, which is of special construction, as shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4, is located upon the sounding-board c ata point between the tailpiece c and the bridge o at such a distance from the said tailpiece as to afford ample room for the performer to strike or otherwise sound the melody-strings 7c at a portion thereof between said bridge u and tailpiece e. By preference said bridge u extends in a direction parallel to the tailpiece e and hand-rest g and lies between said tailpiece and the sound-hole c'. The main body of the bridge u consists of the strip fu, preferably of wood, secured in position upon the sounding-board c, and is preferably of a height somewhat greater than the distance of the melody-strings 7c above said sounding-board. The top surface of said strip is inclined relatively to the soundingboard, the rear edge of said strip toward the tailpiece being higher than the forward edge of said strip. The bridge-plate w (shown separately in Fig. 4) consists of a preferably single piece of metal, approximately Z- shaped in cross-section, thereby forming the port-ions y, and z'. The portion x of the plate tu extends along the surface of the sounding-board adjacent to the strip o and is securely fastened in position, preferably by means of the pins Z, which extend through said portion and also through the sounding-board cinto the frame-piecej, previously mentioned. The portion y of said piece 1U covers the rear surface of the strip 'u and extends at approximately right angles to the sounding-board c. The upper portion .e of said plate w extends from the upper edge of the said portion y in a direction toward the upper extremity of the instrument and more or less completely covers the top of the strip o. By preference said portion z is removed a slight distance from the upper surface of said strip o, and thereby affords space for receiving the pins t t, above mentioned, said pins lying for the most part between said por- `tion z and strip 'U and being thus held in position. The portion y of said plate w is apertured at suitable intervals to afford a passage for said pins the projecting extremities of the latter affording means of attachment for said strings r and s. Said portion ,e preferably has a pitch conforming to the pitch of the upper surface of the strip o, thereby clearing the chord-strings, except where said strings rest upon the plate w at a point adjacent to the portion y thereof. Both the plate w and strip v are provided with a series of apertures 2, extending substantially hori- Zontally in such a manner as to permit the passage of the melody-strings 7s through the bridge u.

The frame-piece j, above mentioned, is ap" proximately coextensive with the strip v, being thereby in position to receive and hold the pins Z, whereby the bridge-plate w' is secured. ASaid frame-pieceis provided with apertures j for the purpose of lightening said piece and also for the purpose of improving the tone of the instrument. As the bridgeplate w' is secured directly to the sounding--` board at a point to the rear of the strip o, the tension of the chord-strings r and s tends to force the portions 'y and z of the plate w in a forward and downward direction upon the sounding-board c. This construction greatly lessens the danger of tearing the strip o from its location, which is of great advantage in the present instrument, where the bridge u preferably rises to a greater height above the sounding board c than do the remaining bridges n and o.

The chord strings r and s extend to and across the bridge 3, located preferably over thc frame-piece cl near the upper extremity of the instrument and parallel to the bridge u. Said chord-strings thence extend tothe wrestpins 4:4, located at a point beyond said bridge 3, nearer the upper extremity of the sound* ing-board.

I attach special importance to the location of the bridges mu, o, and 3, which are placed in such a manner that the bridge u occupies a position between the extremities of the m elody-strings 7c, and the bridge o occupies a position between the extremities of the chordstrings r s. By this means the strings may, if desired, all extend in the same direction and at the same time cover a comparatively small area notwithstanding the allowance of sufficient space' between the bridges n and u for conveniently playing upon the melodystrings 7e. By raising the crown of the bridge u above the melody-strings in the manner shown the chord-strings 1' s may with equal facility be struck or played at any portionof their length. Although I do not confine myself to a construction in which the chordstrings are at all points above the melodystrings, I consider this present construction as most suitable.

For convenience of the performer a handrest 5 is provided at a point upon the sounding-board in juxtaposition to the chordstrings r s.

Although it is preferable that all the strings 7c, r, and s extend in the same direction, it is evident that a certain variation may be made in this respect without departing from my invention, it being essential, however, that the extremities of one or more of the strings in one set shall lie at a point within the area covered by two of the strings of the other set.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A musical instrument having two sets of strings extending in 'substantially the same direction, portions of said sets being coexten- IOO sive or covering a common area of the instrument, each set having one or more strings terminating at points within the area covered or laterally bounded by strings of the other set, and said sets lying in dilerent planes, one set completely above the other.

2-. In a musical instrument, two sets of strings extending in the same general direction, one set being elevated above the other of said sets throughout the entire extent of the upper of said sets, and the lower of said sets extending at at least one end beyond the said upper set.

3. In a musical instrument, the combination of a sounding-body,` and sets of strings extending in the same general direction and lying in two substantially parallel planes, va portion of oneset of strings being superimposed above a portion of the other set of said strings, thereby exposing theentire length of the upper set of strings forstriking or sounding the same and at least one end of the lower set ot' strings extending beyond the ends of the upper set thereby exposing a portion of said lower set for striking or sounding the same.

4. In a musical instrument or lyre-harp, the combination of a set of melody-strings,bridges for supporting the same, one of said bridges being intermediate of the extremities of said instrument, a set of chord-strings extending in both directions' over said intermediate bridge, and bridges for supporting said chordstrings, one of said last-mentioned bridges lying between the bridges whereby the melodystrings are supported, said chord-strings extending'their entire length above said melodystrings, thereby removing the same from the melody-strings, and permitting a plurality of said chord-strings to be sounded simultaneously with a sweeping stroke or touch.

5. In a stringed musical instrument a bridge comprising a strip of wood or other suitable' material mounted upon the body of theinstrument and a metallic bridge-plate secured to the body of said instrument and having portions extending over portions of said strip for relieving the same from strain.

6. In a stringed musical instrument, .the combination of a sounding-board, a bridgestrip mounted upon the same, a metallic bridge-plate secured to said sounding-board and extending over said strip, and pins whereto the strings may be attached, said pins being held in position by means of said strip and bridge-plate. Y

7. In a stringed musical instrument the combination of a sounding-board, a bridgestrip mounted thereon, a bridge-plate secured to said sounding-board and covering part at least of said strip, pins projecting-through said plate and also having a portion lying between said plate and said'- strip, and strings attached to the projecting portions of said DIES.

8. A concert Zither, provided with an openl scale of leading strings and `aY number of groups of accompanying strings arranged intermediately with the rear strings of the leading strings, the inner ends of the accompanying strings being raised above the level ot' the leading strings and the outer ends of the' leading strings extending beyond the inner ends of the accompanying strings. i

FOREST A. PORTER.

Witnesses:

S. WOLF,- ARTHUR M. Cox. 

